Spike puller



A. M. KURZWA.

SPIKE FULLER. APPLICATION .FILED MAR. 2. 1920.

Patented Fab 28, 1922.

UNITED STATES An'rHoivY M. KURZWA,

or CHICAGO, iLLINOIS.

SPIKE PULLER.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 28, 1922- Application filed March 2, 1920. Serial No. 362,656.

To all 107mm it may concern.

Be it known that ANTHONY M. ITURZEVA, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, has invented new and useful Improvements in Spike Pullers, of which the following is a specification.

Theobject of the invention is to provide an efiicient tool of the type ordinarily desig nated as a pinch bar as ameans of removing rail-retaining spikes from ties and performing similar functions in connection with railroad track work and the like, and more particularly to provide a device of this kind which will be effective regardless of the size or degree to which the spike may be worn or reduced by corrosion or otherwise and also regardless of whether or not the head of the spike is present, and with this object in view the invention consists in a construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figures 1 and 2 are side views showing the tool respectively in the spike-engaging and spike-pulling positions.

Figure 3 is a front view showing the same from the position indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the parts in the positions which they occupy when the tool is disposed as in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail View of one of the fulcrum members.

Figures 6 and 7 are similar views of the aws.

J The body portion or stock 10 of the bar carries the relatively movable spike-engaging jaws 11 and 12, the former of which is preferably rigid or integral with the bar while the latter is pivotally mounted as at 13 for swinging movement toward and from the fixed jaw in opposition to the tension of a jaw-opening spring 14 which may be of the plate or leaf type shown in the drawing and interposed between the facing surfaces of the jaws.

The jaws are provided at their outer sldes with enlargements or bosses 15 and it} provided with aligned bores in which is arranged a pivot pin or bolt 17 which may be removably held in place by meanspf a nut 18 or the equivalent and of which the extremities form the pivots of the members l9 and 20 of a fulcrum block adapted to bear upon the surface of the tie or equivalent object from which a spike is to be drawn to form the fulcrum for the stock or body portion of the bar. To this end the members of the fulcrum block are provided with rounded bearing surfaces 21 and the bearing terminals thereof are offset from the shank portions 22 to provide shoulders 23 for contact with the rear edges of the aws to limit the swinging movement in one direction.

The hubs or eyes 24: and the opposing faces of the bosses or enlargements 15 and 16 are spirally beveled to produce cam faces which co-acting asthe fulcrum members are moved from the position indicated in Fig; ure 1 to that shown in Figure 2, serve to force the jaws toward each other from the position indicated in Figure 3 to that shown in Figure 4, to the end that when the jaws are engaged at their reduced forward extremities or toes 25 with a spike or nail. and the free end of the bar or. stock is de pressed toward the position indicated in Figure 2 with the fulcrum members in bearing contact with the surface of the tie or its equivalent, the jaws are forced toward each other'to clamp or bite the shank of the spike and when the engagement thereof with the spike is sufiiciently firm the tool Wlll rock upon the fulcrum block as a center to raise the spike vertically out of the tie. Obviously when the pressure upon the bar is relieved and the consequent rearward strain upon the members of the fulcrum block is reduced, the latter will swing toward the original or normal position indicated in Figure 1 to permit the opening of the jaws and hence the release of the spike or other object engaged thereby.

The facing surfaces of the jaws may be made of any desired conformation to insure an effective engagement of an interposed spike or its equivalent, as for instance by being flared toward the front surface and conversely contracted toward the rear surface to produce biting edges 26.

The movable or pivotal jaw is preferably provided with a reduced tongue 27 to fit in a corresponding recess provided in the shoulder 28 of the stock and is provided with bearing shoulders 29 for contact with said shoulders 28 so as to relieve the pivot 13 of undue strain in the operation of the tool, and hence the latter may be used notwithstanding the relative movement of the jaws in the ordinary way to drive or dig the too portions of the jaws into the tie for proper engagement with the head of the spike or with the shank thereof if the head has become worn or removed by fracture, without incurring the risk of injuring the parts of the tool.

It will be noted that the fulcrum block is constructed of independently pivoted members to the end that they may respectively accommodate themselves to inequalities or roughnesses in the surface of the tie or other object upon which they bear to the end that the depression of the stock in its use as a lever, the strain upon the block will be equalized or distributed between the said members instead of being imposed entirely upon one side of the block as would be the case if said members were connected for simultaneous or equal movement, and moreover by reason of this independent pivotal mounting of the fulcrum members the plane of operation of the stock or bar may be varied to suit the convenience of the operator and hence the direction in which the spike has been driven into the tie to the end that the drawing movement applied thereto may be parallel with the spike.

What is claimed is:

1. A pinch bar having relatively movable jaws and a fulcrum block consisting of independently movable members pivotally mounted upon the jaws and carrying opposing jaw-closing cams.

2. A pinch bar having relatively movable jaws yieldingly held in their separated or spread positions, a pivot pin connecting the jaws, and a fulcrum block consisting of independently movable members pivotally mounted upon said pin and provided with cam faces concentric therewith for cooperation with corresponding cams on the jaws, said fulcrum block members being provided with offset shoulders for limiting the movement of the members by contact with the rear edges of the jaws.

A pinch bar having relatively movable jaws yieldingly held in separated or spaced relation, a fulcrum block consisting of independently movable members disposed against the jaws on the outside and provided with cam faces for cooperation with corresponding faces on the jaws, and a pivot pin passing through the members of the fulcrum block and through the jaws.

In testimony whereof he aflixes his signature.

ANTHONY M. KURZWA. 

